If only
by Hamelia Le Claire
Summary: If only I could get her back. If only I payed more attention. If only...


Light filtered in the bed through the curtains of Hermione's bedpost. Her eyes fluttered open as she realized that her alarm had not gone off. Praying that she was not too late, she hesitantly stared at her wristwatch.

"Eight-thirty?!" She practically screamed. Hurriedly changing her clothes, brushing her teeth and washing her face, she tore down the stairs and pushed open the fat lady. She ran all the way down while staring at her schedule and shoving one shoe on her foot. It was nine forty-five when she arrived at the dungeons. Of all days to have Potions as her first subject, it was today, when she was practically fifteen minutes late. Deciding that standing just outside the classroom door would do her no good; she held her breath, closed her eyes and opened the door. Bracing herself, she opened her eyes and stared at Professor Snape's unfaltering gaze. After a few seconds of stifling silence, Snape cleared his throat and smirked.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Had a good night's sleep, Granger?" Half the room, consisting of Slytherins, snickered.

Snape continued smirking. "Unfortunately for you, I'm in a particularly great mood today; So twenty points for being late, five for looking bedraggled, and let's see, ten more because I feel the need to remind you that Potions starts at Eight-thirty, not Eight-fifty."

Hermione let out a frustrated sigh and gritted her teeth.

"Well? What are you doing just standing there? Go take your seat!" Snape barked.

Seeing as arguing would do no good, she hunched her shoulders and sat in between Ron and Harry. Her best friends gave her sympathetic looks and continued stirring their potions, or in Ron's case scooping up the blob that kept dripping on the floor.

"As I was saying, stir carefully but not too slowly. As for those who decided that making a grand entrance by being twenty minutes late, refer to the board," As Snape was saying this, he gave a casual flick, and there on the black board, appeared the instructions.

Hermione looked up and fervently cut up her ingredients. She stooped so low that her bushy hair swept through flames under Harry's cauldron. It started snaking it's way up her hair and Hermione only noticed when Harry, with evident shock on his face, pointed it out.

Shrieking, she stood up and desperately started clawing at her ablaze hair. Ron, trying to be helpful, grabbed his book and started fanning. The flames grew bigger. Confusion clouded the room as laughter roared like the fire making its way through the Gryffindor's hair. Searching for her wand, she wailed loudly when she realized she had left it on her bedside table. Harry, acting out of his shocked trance, dumped a scoop of gray potion on her hair. Everything sizzled to a stop, the laughing, the panic and the flames.

Snape stepped up to Hermione, His face looking grim and stern. Peering out through the slosh of gray and brown, Hermione watched as Snape wordlessly cleaned the mess up and fixed her hair to its right state.

"You come in here late, looking like you've come out of the forbidden forest, then you decide to burn your hair!? You foolish girl! Everyone claims you're so smart but you can't even act on a situation like this? Where is your wand? Where is your common sense, girl?! Leave my classroom and come back when you've grown a brain." Snape breathed out.

Shocked and terrified, Hermione stood up, collected her things and left the classroom, watching Ron mouth 'I'm sorry' as she closed the door.

She tried to steady her breathing, placing her hands on the caps of her knees and took a deep breath. She started walking, going where her feet willed. She ended up in front of the Room of Requirement and in front of someone she did not want to see at the moment.

His right hand leaning on the door, the left, inside the pocket of his robes. His trademark smirk was gracing his pink lips and overly-grown hair wistfully covered part of his forehead.

I could not deny the gasp that escaped my lips when I saw that he was....


End file.
